Responses of global actors to global issues: VCE Politics Unit 3

What this dot point is asking

Describe how states, an institution of global governance and a non-state actor have each responded to your chosen issue, and judge how effective those responses are. Responses can involve cooperation, disengagement or conflict, as the study design notes.

The answer

Who the actors are

The design sorts global actors into four types: states, regional groupings, global-governance institutions and non-state actors.

• States have defined territory, a permanent population and widely recognised sovereignty. They hold the legal power to sign and implement treaties.
• Regional groupings such as the European Union, ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum organise states within a region.
• Institutions of global governance have global scope, are made up of states, and help states cooperate, make or enforce rules and settle disputes. The United Nations is the central example.
• Non-state actors include transnational corporations, individuals, non-government organisations such as Greenpeace or Human Rights Watch, and terrorist groups or criminal networks.

Types of response

Actors can do more than one at the same time. A state may cooperate through one forum while pursuing its interests against rivals elsewhere.

Judging effectiveness

Effectiveness means the degree to which a response achieves its stated aim and actually reduces the issue. Build a short argument using three tests:

1. Did it reach the goal? Compare the commitment with the outcome.
2. Did the right actors take part? An agreement that leaves out a major actor is weaker.
3. Is it durable? Does it have funding, monitoring and consequences for failure?

Example (climate change). At COP30 in Belem in November 2025, parties agreed to call for efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2035 and announced voluntary roadmaps, but a clear plan to phase out fossil fuels was not agreed. That is cooperation on finance with limits on ambition. Meanwhile, the United States moved to withdraw from climate commitments under the Trump administration, an example of disengagement by a major actor.

Example (weapons of mass destruction). The New START treaty between the United States and Russia expired on 5 February 2026 after Russia had suspended participation in 2023, leaving no legally binding limits on their strategic arsenals.

Worked example

Question. Evaluate the effectiveness of one state's response to your issue.

Model answer outline. Name the state and its main action within the last 10 years. State the aim. Give evidence of progress and evidence of shortfall. Explain how the state's national interests shaped the response. Reach a judgement such as "partially effective", then justify it by comparing the action with the scale of the problem.

Try this

Q1

Name three forms a response can take. Model answer: Cooperation, disengagement and conflict.

Q2

Explain why the participation of major actors affects effectiveness. Model answer: A response that leaves out the largest contributors to or holders of the problem cannot achieve its aim, even if many other actors participate.

Q3

Outline how a non-state actor can respond to a global issue. Model answer: An NGO can campaign, monitor and deliver aid; a corporation can change its operations or lobby; each can influence states without holding legal power to make treaties.